Labor vows to redraft My Health Record legislation

Federal Labor has called for a rewrite of the controversial My Health Record legislation to prevent insurers and employers from exploiting patient data and to protect domestic violence survivors.

The opposition is drafting a suite of amendments to address weaknesses with the digital health records system raised in last month's Senate hearings, where medical experts and unions raised serious concerns that the current legislation could allow patient data to be used for commercial purposes.

"The Australian people need guarantees that the My Health Record won’t be privatised or commercialised," opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King told Fairfax Media.

"And they need guarantees that private health insurers will never get access to their data."

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Ms King also called on the government to "do more to protect vulnerable children and parents fleeing domestic violence, and ensure employees’ right to privacy is not breached".

"If the government refuses to address these issues, Labor will move amendments in the Senate," she said.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has promised to tweak the legislation to ensure that police may not access a person's medical record without a court order, and enabling patients to permanently delete their records. The government is due to report on Friday about the public consultation into its amendments.

The Australian Digital Health Agency has warned that employer-nominated doctors could face jail time if they handed over employees' data, after the ACTU told the Senate committee that sensitive medical records could be accessed as part of pre-employment health checks.

Fairfax Media revealed in July that a loophole in the system could allow a violent offender to find information about their ex-partner's whereabouts by accessing their child's My Health Record to see details, including the location of medical practitioners and pharmacies attended with their primary caregiver.

Former AMA president Kerryn Phelps, who is running as an independent in next Saturday's Wentworth byelection, has raised her own concerns with the legislation.

Dr Phelps told the Senate committee it was not enough to stop third parties, such as insurers, from accessing My Health Record data, but that consumer protections were needed to prevent third parties from discriminating against individuals who do not agree to the release of their My Health Record data.

She also called for strict privacy laws to be introduced, along the lines of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, to circumvent misuse of the information, warning that there were currently no protections to stop data being "leveraged for financial gain".

While departmental policy states that patient data cannot be used solely for financial ends, it may be used for some mixed public health and commercial purposes.

The Australian Medical Association has called for measures to be put in place to ensure private health insurers can never get their hands on patient data.

Dr Nathan Pinskier, from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, told the Senate committee there was "always a risk that insurers may try and game the system".

"We believe that the act should be strengthened so it specifically prohibits insurers from making requests to healthcare providers to access such information," Dr Pinskier said.

Australians have until November 15 to opt-out of the My Health Record system, after Mr Hunt extended the deadline by a month. Almost a million people had opted out on September 12.

Ms King said the Senate inquiry had been vindicated and the My Health Record roll-out should be suspended while changes were made.